This is the heartbreaking moment a bear was spotted clinging to the top of a 35-foot telephone pole before it was electrocuted.
The stranded animal was spotted by a driver near Clayton, New Mexico.
Footage showed the bear balancing precariously on the pole’s crossarm, panting as it struggled to keep its footing.
‘We really didn’t believe what we saw at first, so we turned around to get another look,’ Shannon Mullens told social content agency Storyful.
‘At first, we thought that the bear was dead, until we got closer to it and then we realized that he was still alive.’
During a frantic 911 call captured in the video, taken on Monday, an operator told the concerned witness to ‘just leave it be.’
‘I’ve already called Game and Fish, and they said there’s nothing that they can do,’ the operator explained. ‘They could go and shoot it and tranquilize it to get it down, but if they do that, then it’s gonna fall and hurt itself.’
The ordeal ultimately ended in horror when the bear was electrocuted before officials could rescue it.
A stranded bear was spotted by a driver near Clayton, New Mexico, on Monday
Wildlife specialists explained that frightened bears, particularly younger animals, may instinctively climb utility poles for safety after being startled by vehicles, humans or dogs.
Another witness who filmed the incident and contacted authorities later claimed the animal was electrocuted after officials ‘refused to come out.’
Advocacy group World Animal News criticized the response, arguing that officials should have made greater efforts to rescue the bear.
‘The heartbreaking incident has renewed discussion about how wildlife emergencies involving animals in immediate, life-threatening situations should be handled,’ the agency said.
‘Every wildlife emergency deserves prompt attention, careful assessment, and, whenever possible, every reasonable effort to help animals in distress and give them the best possible chance of survival.
‘May this precious soul rest in peace. We must do better for wildlife in crisis.’
In a statement to Storyful, a spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Wildlife suggested the animal’s death was caused by members of the public who had stopped ‘to film and take pictures of the bear.’
‘The reporting party was instructed to leave the bear alone so it could come down on its own and local dispatch was asked to instruct concerned citizens to leave the bear alone; however, some members of the public continued to stop next to the power pole to film and take pictures of the bear, so the bear remained at the top of the pole,’ the representative wrote.
Footage showed the bear balancing precariously on a 35ft telephone pole’s crossarm, panting as it struggled to keep its footing
The bear was later electrocuted before wildlife officials could rescue it
‘A Union County sheriff’s deputy, the power company and Department conservation officers were notified. Unfortunately, the bear sustained fatal injuries before they arrived,’ the spokesman added.
A similar incident happened last year in Arizona, when another bear had climbed atop a telephone pole.
Werner J Neubauer, a lineman, was called to the scene in Cochise County and quickly went to work de-energizing the equipment and deployed a fiberglass stick to get the animal to climb down.
The bear initially refused to budge but eventually climbed safely back to the ground.
